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May 25, 2015
Taps is 24 notes that can make the toughest soldier cry
Bugler honors deceased veterans with personal touch
Taps is 24 notes that can make the toughest soldier cry
It’s a musical recognition of a life ended, a goodbye that hangs in the air as friends and family wipe their tears, look up and know they must live the rest of their lives without someone.
Since 2001, retired Army Reserve Lt. Col. Philip Kowzan, has played taps at military honor funerals in the Spokane area. His debut came unexpectedly at longtime friend Ivan Brayman’s funeral.
“They had a recorder there and I said, ‘No, you’re not using that, not at my friend Ivan’s funeral,’?” Kowzan said.
A lifelong trumpet player, he got his trumpet out of the car, took a deep breath and played for his friend one last time.
“I wasn’t in uniform or anything,” Kowzan said. “I’m not even sure I did it right.”
That was the only time he played taps in 2001.
But since then, he’s played at 1,259 funerals, sometimes playing at three services in the morning and another three in the afternoon.
“I did seven one day,” Kowzan said. “That’s a lot.”
Every funeral Kowzan has participated in is meticulously recorded in a little black notebook, its cover worn from being carried in his pocket.
When he ran out of notebook pages, he switched to a small three-ring binder.
He tries to get the funeral program and the obituary from each service, and he’s working on creating a leather-bound scrapbook that will be given to the Washington State Veterans Cemetery.
“It’s become my mission,” Kowzan said, flipping through the pages of his notebook, recognizing many of the names.
At 77, Kowzan is long retired, first from the Army and then from a job with a whirlpool spa company.
He plays in several bands with his wife, Carol Kowzan, and has just picked up viola, so he wouldn’t mind slowing down his bugling career. It’s just that he knows of only three other bugle players.
“Once in a while a new person shows up,” Kowzan said. “But we desperately need younger people.”
Kowzan doesn’t charge anything, though he doesn’t turn down a donation to cover gas and a sandwich for lunch.
His spotless, well-fitting uniform cost him $500.
The Washington State Veterans Cemetery in Medical Lake pays him a $25 stipend - for a whole day.
“It’s 23 miles out there, so if I have funerals in the morning and the afternoon, then I don’t go home,” Kowzan said, smiling.
Kowzan is not complaining, he’s just truly worried that battery-operated, digital bugles with built-in MP3 players will take over, leaving a sterile monotone presentation of a very emotional piece of music.
“Sometimes the batteries die in the middle of everything,” Kowzan said. “It will never be the same as having a real live person play.”
Wild Thing's comment...............
Great story and I love this particular video with it.
Posted by Wild Thing at May 25, 2015 12:45 AM
Comments
A great American patriot.
Posted by: TomR,armed in Texas at May 25, 2015 01:32 PM
